


One Sweet Love

by triflingthings



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: F/M, M for drinking/marijuana use and language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-11
Updated: 2020-01-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:40:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22205788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/triflingthings/pseuds/triflingthings
Summary: Ricky seemed to be beyond helping. Nini is determined to change that.
Relationships: Ricky Bowen & Nini Salazar-Roberts, Ricky Bowen/Nini Salazar-Roberts
Comments: 4
Kudos: 120





	One Sweet Love

Senior year was officially two weeks away. To say Nini was dreading it was an understatement. What happened to the fun-spirited, school-loving Nini everyone once knew, no one knows -- not even Nini, herself. What once was a girl looking into the future with hope faded into an almost-eighteen year old dreading returning to East High, as she would be forced to change out of her joggers and crewneck. It wasn't what she wanted for herself, to say the least. 

Nini sighed and rolled over in her bed, quickly petting her cat, Conductor Whiskers, on the head before clicking the 'Next Episode' button of the nature documentary on her laptop. Before the introductory music could begin, though, her phone began buzzing sporadically from the other end of the bed. Pausing her show, she swiped the screen to answer after briefly noticing that the caller ID said her best friend's name.

"Hey, Kourt," Nini said, less than cheerfully, into the speaker. It wasn't that she didn't want to talk to Kourtney, it's just that Nini was so _tired_. Talking to people was no longer something Nini looked forward to, even if she had known Kourtney all of her life.

"Nin, E.J. is having a party tonight an-," she was quickly cut off. "No," Nini said flatly. Parties _definitely_ were not Nini's scene anymore.

Kourtney wasn't having it, not today. "Don't you 'No' me, Nina. You've been holed up in that room for the entire summer. You need to get out. Everyone misses you so much. _I_ miss you. So much, Nin. You're my best friend. I hate seeing you like this, it's not you."

Nini's eyes began to water the moment Kourtney referred to her by her real name. She knew that Kourtney was right. Of course burrowing herself in blankets for three months wasn't her. The old Nini never would have dreamed of it. But she wasn't the old Nini. Not anymore. She disappeared halfway through junior year, almost as soon as she lost-

No. That was the last thing she needed to think about right now. It would only drive her crazier. No, Courtney was right. A night out couldn't hurt her. If anything, it could actually help. She missed her friends and wondered what they had been up to. Not only in the past three months, but ever since she seemed to clock out from reality. Were Seb and Carlos still together? She hoped so. They seemed to make each other happy. How was Gina holding up away from her mom? Nini hoped she was okay, even if her and Gina had gotten off on the wrong foot. God, she _did_ miss her friends.

Her mind was made up in the time that it took for a pregnant pause to take place in her and Kourtney's conversation. "Yeah, you know what? You're right. Hey Kourt?"

"Yeah, Nin?"

Nini knew how excited Kourtney would be by her offer before she even said it. "Do you think you could come over and help me get dressed? I'm not looking my best at the moment." Nini let out a sheepish laugh and subconsciously pulled a strand of- slightly greasy-hair behind her ear. 

" _Oh my god, Nini, yes! I'll be over in twenty. Oh my, I am so excited. i can't believe you're finally letting me d-_ ," Kourtney rambled on about how excited she was for another ten or so minutes, and Nini happily let her. It was something close to soothing to hear her best friend go on and on like she used to.

_Maybe she still does_ , Nini thought. _Just not with you. You cut her out, after all. You cut everyone out._

Nini shook her head to clear her thoughts. That's not what she needed. Not tonight.

. . .

Nini looked _hot_. Or maybe she didn't. Maybe she looked extremely mediocre and her standards for herself had just become so low over the last few months that she was pleasantly surprised when her hair was even brushed.

Either way, the black bodysuit and skinny jeans that Kourtney had insisted that she wear looks quite great on her, to say the least. Her straightened hair- that was now only a few inches below her shoulder blades, darker, and highlightless- and light but feature-enhancing makeup only added to everything. She felt good, the exact opposite of how she had felt all summer.

E.J.'s parties quickly changed from innocent chips and dip to booze and weed almost as soon as junior year ended. It wasn't as if they were "ragers". No, they remained well under fifty people and never got out of hand enough to warrant a visit from a police officer. Nini had come to one or two before she completely shut everyone out, and they had actually been a pretty good time. _Hopefully_ , Nini thought, _tonight will be, as well._

Carlos greeted her at the door and immediately pulled her into a rib-crushing hug, but it was nice nonetheless. She wouldn't tell anyone in hopes to not hurt any feelings, but Carlos was one of her friends that she had missed the most. She was quickly handed a drink and ushered inside, greeted by different friends one after the other. Carlos and Seb were, in fact, still together. And, surprisingly enough, E.J. and Gina had established a relationship not too long after he had bought her a plane ticket back home after her move. E.J. was still as self-obsessed as ever, though in a much less obnoxious way. Big Red and Ashlyn hadn't worked out, with both of them realizing that they much preferred being best friends. That, and Ashlyn realized that she was most definitely into girls. Nini couldn't believe she had missed out on so much, and quickly decided that she did not want it to happen again.

. . .

An hour in, Nini was pleasantly tipsy and announced to Kourtney that she was going to find a restroom.

After washing her hands and heading back down the hall in which she came, something caught Nini's eye from her peripheral. A head turning the opposite way, a head of curly brown hair that was attached to someone sitting on the couch in E.J.'s family room. No, not _someone_. Nini knew exactly who it was, and her breath caught in her throat.

Ricky Bowen fell off of the face of the earth approximately a week before Nini did. In fact, he was the cause of Nini's downward spiral. It wasn't necessarily his fault. Truly, he didn't even know how it had affected her. He was far too deep in his own spiral to notice anyone else's. With his parents sudden split and his mom moving to Chicago, Ricky seemed to have lost himself completely. He told her bits and pieces about the situation before things got too bad; before he completely shut her out. Nini assumed that there was more to it. Something that half of American children go through was without a doubt hard, but nothing that Ricky couldn't handle. Her moms had mentioned briefly that Ricky's dad seemed to have lost himself, as well, but they quickly changed the topic once they noticed that Nini was listening in on the conversation.

Nini had heard rumors here and there about him: girls he messed around with on the weekend, how defeated he looked walking down the hall. She tried to block them out, but anytime she heard his name she couldn't help but want to know exactly what was being said. She couldn't help it. She would never _not_ be in love with Ricky Bowen.

Tonight, he was seated alone on a sofa with a half-finished joint between his fingers. This worried Nini; not because of _what_ he was doing, but because of _why_ he was doing it. Smoking a joint here and there was something that Nini herself found herself doing with Kourtney- the rare recent times that they had hung out-, but Ricky was always someone who never wanted to turn to smoking or drinking when he felt bad. He never wanted to rely on something that way. So seeing his sunken in and red, glassy eyes worried Nini more than it probably should, for someone that hasn't even spoken to him in almost seven months. 

She didn't know what it was that compelled her to walk over to him, and was even more surprised to feel herself take a seat next to him. 

"Hi," she breathed as she took the joint from its position between his fingers. She put it between her lips, but wasn't sure if it was for her pleasure or so he simply couldn't take another hit. 

"Uh- I- Hi," he replied, his eyes as wide as he could currently get them. "It's been awhile."

Nini laughed, but it came out as more of a scoff. "That's an understatement. But I'm not really sure if it's your fault or mine." They both looked sheepish after that statement, knowing that there was nothing but truth behind it. 

He wiped a hand down his face, pausing for a moment over his eyes. "Yeah, I guess you're right," he replied, taking the joint back from her. They continued like that for a few quiet moments, just passing the it back and forth in an awkward but not-so-awkward silence.

Finally, Nini broke the silence. "I missed you, Ricky. I still miss you, so much." She wasn't sure if it was the drinks or the weed that made her say it, but she felt a weight lifted off of her shoulders once she did. She didn't expect much in response. Honestly, what was someone supposed to say to that when they hadn't spoken to the person in that long? 

Her thoughts were interrupted by Ricky's shaky intake of breath. He was still looking at his lap, but had slightly angled his knees to almost knock against hers. Even the slightest chance of him touching her was sending Nini's heart into a dangerously rapid frenzy. Even now, he still managed to drive her crazy. At this point, Nini had been avoiding looking at his face, but hearing a shaky sob made her eyes snap up.

Rocky Bowen was crying. Tears were falling freely from his eyes and he was doing nothing to stop them. That was one thing that Nini had always loved about him: he cried freely and proudly. Nini didn't comment on it, and instead softly grabbed his hand and pulled him off of the couch. He followed her out of the living room, up the stairs, and into an isolated bedroom.

By the time they were seated on the bed, Ricky was fully sobbing. Nini wrapped her arms around his torso as he took jagged breaths in an attempt to calm himself down. 

"I- I'm so sorry, Nini. I never meant for everything to go to shit," he choked out. Nini shook her head from where it was lying on his shoulder, but Ricky wouldn't have it. "No, I'm serious. It was such an asshole thing to do when I just _left_ you. I didn't even give you an explanation, and you deserved one more than anyone else. I fucked up so badly. And I _saw_ you, the way you shut down after I shut you out. I hurt you and I still couldn't even bring myself to say anything. I'm so sorry."

Nini lifted her head off of his shoulder so that she could grab his face between her hands and rest her forehead against his. She wiped the tears off of his cheeks with the pads of her thumbs before she spoke. "Ricky, listen to me. It fucking _hurt_ to not have you around anymore. I hated it more than anything. But I also know that forcing you to act like everything was okay would have only made it worse. You're not a bad person, Ricky. You're not, I know that you're not. You're so great, and I know that you would never intentionally hurt someone. Please, you have to know that."

Ricky shook his head, slowly as not to knock it against Nini's. "You can't make excuses for me, Nini. I messed up, and I fucked everything over. I closed myself off and in turn I hurt you, too. I never wanted to hurt you. You never deserve to be hurt, and I never thought that I'd be the one to do it. I hate myself for it."

At some point during his confession, Nini had buried her face in his neck, as tears began to fall from her eyes, as well. After a beat of silence, she ghosted her lips over the hollow of his throat. Ricky's breath shuddered once again, but this time not solely from the tears. Her lips traveled from his neck to his jawline, feather light, before settling on the corner of his mouth. Ricky's eyes fluttered shut, reveling in the feeling. 

Nini thread her fingers through his curls and moved near his ear. "You're _good_ , Ricky. I wouldn't love you if you weren't." Any other day, Nini would have been shy after the confession, but she knew that, tonight, they both needed to hear it. It was true, perhaps the truest statement she had ever made. She loved him when he was a lively twelve year old, and she loved him now, as an eighteen year old broken ghost of his past self. She couldn't imagine what it must be like to have his dad, his only parent that stayed around, give up on himself and his son. Ricky was so undeniably good and sensitive, of course he would take it hard. He had to grow up before anyone else, and he lost himself along the way.

Ricky didn't say anything, and instead turned his face to meet their lips. It was a mixture of skin and tears, but it was more than either of them thought they would ever get from the other. It was soft and languid, and exactly what they both needed.

Ricky sighed once they broke apart, and Nini couldn't help but notice that his eyes seemed a little brighter. He let out a laugh through his nose and said, "God, Nini. I love you."

Nini grinned slightly and pressed one more chaste, soft kiss to his lips. "Can we please get out of here? E.J. has too many pictures of himself and I feel like his eyes are following me," she giggled.

" _Please_. He's great, but I hate seeing his face everywhere." Ricky let his first real grin slip over his features.

Nini felt lighter, although they hadn't even talked about what just happened. But they would, she knew. They would talk about it between kisses and laughs, attempting to ease themselves back into their normal routine. It would take time, she was certain, but it would happen. It would happen over dinners with her moms, sleepovers and rides to school, college applications, and YouTube binge sessions. It would happen, over time. But for now, Nini wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around him while lying in her bed, and to kiss him until they were both in a daze.

Things would work out, she knew. She was his and he was hers, and it would always be that way.

**Author's Note:**

> When I say that the season finale killed me, it literally killed me. So much happened and I just love this show so much, so I hope you had as much fun reading this as I did writing it! <3


End file.
